countenance
Americannoun
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appearance, especially the look or expression of the face.
a sad countenance.
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the face; visage.
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calm facial expression; composure.
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approval or favor; encouragement; moral support.
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Obsolete. bearing; behavior.
verb (used with object)
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to permit or tolerate.
You should not have countenanced his rudeness.
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to approve, support, or encourage.
idioms
noun
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the face, esp when considered as expressing a person's character or mood
a pleasant countenance
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support or encouragement; sanction
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composure; self-control (esp in the phrases keep or lose one's countenance; out of countenance )
verb
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to support or encourage; sanction
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to tolerate; endure
Synonym Usage
See face.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of countenance
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English cuntenaunce “behavior, bearing, self-control,” from Anglo-French cuntena(u)nce, Old French contenance, from Medieval Latin “way of living, demeanor,” from Latin continentia “self-control, restraint”; see continence
Explanation
The noun countenance means the face or its expression. If you're a great poker player, you probably have a calm countenance. Countenance comes from a French word for "behavior," but it has become a fancy term for either the expression of a face or the face itself: "He had a puzzled countenance," or "what a charming countenance!" Countenance can also be a verb meaning to tolerate or approve. If someone does something offensive, tell them, "I'm afraid I can't countenance that."
Vocabulary lists containing countenance
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Face It: Selfie Vocab
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"The Raven"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once upon a time, this aged collective creature, this Knight of the Sad Countenance, was supposed to be our savior, the slayer of the horrible monster.
From Salon • Jul. 25, 2017
Don Quixote, very lean and egotistic and honest and foolish; a veritable Knight of the Woeful Countenance ...
From Time Magazine Archive
One was a proud, polite horse chosen to carry Feodor Chaliapin, chivalric Knight of the Rueful Countenance.
From Time Magazine Archive
Countenance cast down — yet defying Answer — he whispered: “I have never even dwellt inside myself.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
I salute that hero to art whose physiognomy resembled so much that of our "Knight of the Doleful Countenance."
From My Recollections by Massenet, Jules
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
